Rowan University Data Policy

The University's policy regarding the appropriate use and storage of data is presented below:

Authoritative Source of Official University Data

Rowan University is the sole owner of any and all data produced using and/or stored within the University’s hardware and/or software systems.

“Data,” as it pertains to this policy, includes but is not limited to: information pertaining to current and prospective students, employees, financial and operational data, alumni and donor data, and data pertaining to past, ongoing, and future research.

The only officially recognized data repository for Rowan University is the BANNER ERP system. Creation of shadow database is considered compromised and dangerous, and is strongly discouraged.

The University has a responsibility to ensure the validity, continued availability, confidentiality, and integrity of the contents of its mission-critical networks and systems, and official data repository (BANNER ERP). Therefore, all third party (i.e., something other than BANNER) software/applications utilized by offices, departments, or other units within Rowan must conform to the University’s established data standards. Adhering to these standards requires that any third party software/application that generates data, as outlined above, must feed such data electronically to the official repository on a regular ongoing basis. This standard operating procedure ensures the validity of the repository’s contents and limits the unnecessary duplication of data—essential to the integrity of official University reporting activities.

Any third party software, application, or system that requires access to the types of data stored in Rowan’s official repository must be granted approval by the offices of Institutional Effectiveness, Research & Planning (IERP) and Information Resources (IR). Approval of access to the repository shall be contingent upon both offices’ determination that such access will not compromise the validity and security of the data contained in Rowan’s official data repository.